Kettlebell Conditioning Clean

Blast calories with this intense finisher

Kettlebell training is one of my favorite tools in the trainer toolbox. Kettlebells are versatile and great for strength as well as conditioning. And, women tend to become fluent in the movements very quickly.

Most people have already experienced kettlebells, so I won’t go into too much detail about the benefits. All you need to know is that they are awesome, because they hit every major muscle, recruit your core like crazy and help ladies get amazingly strong in a short amount of time.

Today, I wanted to share with you a great kettlebell conditioning finisher that you can tack on to the end of your strength training session for a final muscle/calorie burn. I did this one last Sunday after a heavy full body training day.

First let me share the FULL BODY Training Session that PRECEDED the finisher. I didn’t do a lot of volume—rather, the focus was shorter rest between these big movements.

THE FINISHER – Kettlebell Conditioning Clean

At the end of this session, I grabbed my 16kg kettlebell and got to work. This was a bit lighter weight than what I typically recommend, but after having some elbow pain, I decided training smart was a good idea. Typically, I’ll use 20kg or 24kg and recommend between 14kg and 20kg for my training clients.

The object of this kettlebell conditioning clean is to perform all the repetitions on the right. Then, switch to the left in one motion and complete all of the reps to the left. You should complete three different cycles of repetitions. Reps will decrease with each cycle.

Exercise Part 1: Kettlebell Clean
The kettlebell clean is an explosive motion using the hips to generate power. The goal here is to “tame the arc.” Here are a few quick tips to help you get it right:

• Begin the movement with your hips back, back flat and chest up
• Drive the weight up using your hips and rotate your elbow quickly
• “Punch” the weight up (make a fist motion and tighten your wrist)
• Pull the weight into your body and not up, otherwise you’ll have some serious forearm bruising
• Continue this motion for the prescribed reps and make sure to keep the bell in constant motion just like a swing

Exercise Part 2: Front Squat
For the front squat, you want to drop down into a deep squat. Having the weight set on one side of your body will require you to brace your core and really drive up through your heels on each rep.